


The Victor's Crown

by sungabraverday



Series: Maysilee Donner: Victor [2]
Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-03
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-17 13:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/868045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sungabraverday/pseuds/sungabraverday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maysilee watches the highlights reel from her Games in front of all of Panem. It isn't easy, but it's a show, and she promised someone one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Victor's Crown

Maysilee rose onto the stage, blinded by the lights. She smiled and waved at the crowd, who cheered marvellously for her, perfectly manicured and coiffed her, their Second Quarter Quell Victor. The studio was full to brimming, obviously keen to celebrate this momentous occasion. Bile rose to her throat, and she swallowed it back down, understanding why she had been allowed so little food at dinner.

Time seemed to pass in slow motion, with five minutes that felt like hours going by before Caesar Flickerman held out his arm for her to take. He lead her to the victor’s throne. Its back was taller than her, even standing, and the width was enough that she could have folded her legs beneath her if it had been soft enough to want to, designed for someone much bigger than her. The seat was covered in a smooth red silk, but the arms, legs, and edges were done in a twisted golden wiry web that looked gorgeous, but was prickly against her bare arms and legs.

Maysilee settled uneasily, shifting slightly until she was as comfortable as she could reasonably expect to be, face still locked in a gracious smile. Caesar Flickerman captured the audience’s attention with several jokes, giving Maysilee the chance to prepare herself. Once Maysilee was well set, he smiled at her, and she nodded, and the seal appeared on the screen, beginning the highlight reel.

The video moves impossibly quickly through the reapings, the Opening Ceremonies, and the announcement of the training scores. The interviews get a little bit more time, but they need to fit nearly twice as much content into the same amount of time as usual, and this too is fast.

Maysilee’s interview, though, plays out in its entirety. “Well, they’re called the Hunger Games, so I’m preparing myself for that. But I haven’t any idea how to prepare myself for the rest of it, so I’m just trying to get enough sleep,” she says.

Caesar asks about home, and she talks briefly about Marjorie, her twin. How do they tell you apart, he asks, and Maysilee answers. “Oh, everyone says different things. The way we walk, the shape of our ears, the direction our hair curls, how we sit. Whether or not their name is being shouted clear across the square. They still get it wrong on occasion, though, unless I’m shouting at them.” She grins playfully, and the audience titters as they try to piece it together, before the penny drops and real laughter spreads across the square. It’s a good interview for a clever girl.

Haymitch graces the screen for a moment, arrogant and self-assured. “They'll still be one hundred percent as stupid as usual, so I figure my odds will be roughly the same,” he says, and then it jumps to the arena.

There’s a stunning overhead shot of the meadow, the forest, and the mountain, and Maysilee’s jaw dropped at the spectacular view, broadcast clear across the nation, before the bloodbath begins.

Maysilee grabs a small backpack and sprints for the forest, a half-beat after the gong sounds. The Careers are all moving by the time she’s running, but some of the other tributes have yet to move. It’s a fatal mistake as eighteen of the tributes fall in the ensuing bloodbath. It isn’t pretty, and Maysilee watched stoically, glad she missed the original occurrence.

The screen cuts to various shots of tributes collapsing from drinking the poisoned streams, or eating fruit plucked from the trees. The arena killed so many so fast, and the audience loved it. There are a few shots of the Career pack hunting, and a few of the other tributes as well, as they fight or encounter other poisonous dangers. Maysilee doesn’t appear again on screen until the moment where she witnesses one of the tributes dying by inhaling one of the flower’s poisons.

The next shot is her first kill, with her blowgun. It’s a swift transition that says that she’s gone from a no one to a competitor, and emphasises that her interview angle was accurate. There are a few shots of her preparing her weapons, after the fact for more dramatic punch. Another kill follows, and then cuts to the action elsewhere in the arena.

The volcano explodes in a phenomenal scene, and there are close-up shots of each of the tributes dying, as well as the over-arching view, which is quite spectacular. It takes the video to two hours.

It cuts to Haymitch’s fight with the three Careers next, and it’s exactly as dramatic and bloody as Maysilee remembers it. It’s shown in full, and then Maysilee’s dart drops the remaining tribute and they’re instantly allies.

There’s only one cutaway from shots of Haymitch and Maysilee working as a team from then on, that being only to showcase the District One girl’s kill. It’s a good story, touching, but also plenty deadly as they take down three other tributes when they’re attacked. It’s a group of three, from three of the lesser districts. Maysilee drops one before they’re in close range. Haymitch takes on another, slashing effectively, and stabbing upward under his ribs, killing him quickly. The last tribute advances on Maysilee who does not even load her blowgun for a calculated lack of time, simply throwing her dart at him. It skims an already open wound on his arm, but continues on without sufficient poison transferring to kill. Maysilee has another dart in hand, this time to stab, but Haymitch is unoccupied now and stabs him in the back, dropping him. Maysilee picks up her darts and they move on to the sound of three cannon shots.

It’s not much later when they reach the edge of the arena, and the pair split up. Tears welled up in Maysilee’s eyes in the studio, but she blinked them back, everyone watching her. Before the bird attack is showcased and the events that she remembers, she finally sees what Haymitch discovered when the pebble bounces back into his hand.

The pink birds look so innocent in the air, until they’re attacking her, and she screams. Blood splatters onto the camera, and the footage changes. She’s halfway up that tree, watching Haymitch look at the bloody meadow, unseen.

The video shows two more tribute deaths, and then moves on to the final fight, between Haymitch and the District One Girl. It’s bloody and terrible, with each making fatal wounds, and then they’re running through the woods, bleeding out. There’s a shot of Maysilee listening in the underbrush, and then the remainder of the battle plays out. The Career girl throws the axe, and then the force field bounces it back, straight into her skull.

And then Maysilee has returned to the picture, and she’s speaking in low tones to Haymitch. Their conversation is recorded and subtitled neatly, until Haymitch pulls her close to him. Her hair obstructs the view of their lips, and Haymitch’s voice is so low and broken that only her name is understandable. Her head dips lower, and her hand stabs him.

She stands and salutes then, but Haymitch’s body isn’t on the screen. It took a moment before Maysilee realised why, with all of her held up tears pouring out. To the rest of Panem, and especially the Capitol, it must have seemed like a winner’s pose. 

Maysilee repeated the gesture toward the screen and her own image in a reaction that would surely be broadcast again all over the country. She knew that District Twelve would understand, and relished the opportunity to start what she had promised unheard, giving them all an unforgettable show. They just hadn’t realised it yet.

The highlights were finished, and the lights were restored while the anthem of Panem played. President Snow walked up the steps before where Maysilee was still sitting, followed by a small boy, dark-haired and exactly what she envisioned a small Haymitch as looking like. He was carrying a cushion, and on it, the Victor’s Crown.

President Snow lifted it from the cushion, and placed it on Maysilee’s head. As he did so, he looked into Maysilee’s eyes, apparently boring into her soul. She didn’t flinch, but instead stared right back, a feeling of dread filling her, despite the smile plastered onto her face. He was smiling too, but it was not a reassuring smile.

An age of curtseying and clapping followed, before Maysilee was taken to a grand palace and shuffled around like a parcel between sponsors who wanted photographs and autographs and just to talk to her, right through the night. The Victor's Crown was a heavy load to wear through it all.


End file.
